Fresno State Invitational
Devaney Breaks Hammer School Record; Mustangs Post 9 Top-10 Marks
5/4/2025 8:00:00 AM | Track and Field
CLOVIS, Calif. — Junior Rory Devaney shattered the school record in the men’s hammer throw and a total of nine top-10 marks in school history were recorded as the Cal Poly track and field team competed in the Fresno State Invitational and Oxy Invitational this weekend.
Splitting the team for the final time this season, the Mustangs sent their distance squad to the blistering track at Jack Kemp Stadium to compete in the Oxy Invitational on Saturday, while the rest of the team headed to the Central Valley to take part in the Fresno State Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Fresno State Invitational
A total of 19 personal bests were posted across the Fresno State Invite with Devaney getting things started on Friday in the men’s hammer throw. For the second time this season and the fifth time in his career, the San Luis Obispo native broke the school record in the event by posting a lifetime best of 228 feet, 5 inches (69.62 meters), surpassing teammate Travis Martin’s previous program record (228-1) by 4 inches. The mark is currently the seventh best in the West Region and No. 12 in Division I this season. The performance allowed Devaney to capture first in the hammer, while Martin finished right behind him in second (222-2).
Devaney also secured a first-place finish in the discus (179-11) on Saturday, part of five event victories for the Cal Poly men at the meet. The Mustangs took first in the 4x100-meter relay with a blistering time of 40.06 seconds — a season best, the program’s fastest since 2004, the sixth best in school history and the second best in the Division I era. Senior Noah Bustos, junior MacGregor TeSelle, freshman Vince Atilano and sophomore Ryan Teeple ran the four legs on the relay. Atilano also grabbed an individual victory in the men’s 400 hurdles (52.73 seconds), while freshman Ben Feyrer won the men’s pole vault (15-11.25).
On the women’s side, a total of 16 personal bests were recorded with sophomore Jordan Jackson and freshman Madison Easter leading the way. Jackson ran a lifetime best of 54.21 seconds in the women’s 400 to place third, the fourth-fastest time in school history and the best by a Mustang in 24 years. The Las Vegas native also posted a PR in the 200 of 24.29 seconds, just .06 seconds off No. 10 in school history. Easter posted a blistering lifetime best of 24.01 seconds in the women’s 200, the fifth-fastest time in school history.
Easter also helped Cal Poly place second in the 4x100 relay with a time of 45.66 seconds, just .11 seconds off the team’s season best. Freshman Desie Armstrong, sophomore Ciella Seals and senior Cadence Roy-Williams ran the other three legs on the relay. Roy-Williams ran PRs in both the 100 (11.93 seconds) and 200 (24.46 seconds), while Armstrong leaped a lifetime best in the long jump (18 feet, 10.5 inches) and posted a PR in the 200. A total of seven Mustangs ran PRs in the women’s 200 at the meet.
On Friday, sophomore Taylor Hofland recorded a lifetime best of 46 feet, 0.5 inches in the women’s shot put to place second, just a foot off No. 10 in school history. Hofland also tossed a PR in the discus on Saturday, while freshman Brooklyn Epperley secured PRs in both the shot and discus.
Defending Big West pole vault champion and school record holder Lexi Evans won the women’s pole vault (13-1) and sophomore Melanie Castelli finished second in the women’s high jump with a mark that matched her outdoor PR (5-8).
Sophomore Elianah DeMange grabbed third in the 800 with a PR (2:11.35), while senior Melody Nwagwu (women’s triple jump) and junior Chase Kubinski (women’s javelin) both earned third-place finishes in their respective events.
Oxy Invitational
At the Oxy Invite on Saturday, the Cal Poly distance team showed out, posting six top-10 marks in program history and a total of 15 personal bests.
In the 800-meter alone, three top-10 marks were posted along with five PRs between the two genders. On the men’s side, graduate student Chase Walter became just the third Mustang ever to run a sub-1:48 time in the 800, crossing the finish line in second with the third-fastest time in school history (1:47.89). The time was over a two second PR is currently tied for the 23rd-fastest ran in the West Region this season. Junior Carson Smith finished right behind Walter in third with a time of 1:48.10, the fourth-fastest time in school history which ranks No. 27 in the West Region. Freshman Jeffrey Overgaard also ran a lifetime best of 1:50.37, 12th-fastest in school history. On the women’s side, junior Tatiana Cornejo continued her remarkable season by running the fifth-fastest 800 time in school history (2:07.12) and the best by a Mustang in 20 years. Cornejo has now posted three top-10 marks in program history this outdoor season, breaking the 5,000 school record and running the third-fastest 1,500 time. It was Cornejo’s first time running the 800 since winning the conference title in the event at last year’s Big West Championships.
In the men’s 1,500-meter, sophomore Chris Caudillo (3:41.39) and senior Spencer Pickren (3:42.43) ran the fifth fastest and seventh fastest times in school history respectively to place second and third at the meet. Junor Michael Chambers also ran a significant lifetime best of 3:44.58, No. 14 in school history.
The Mustangs swept the top three places in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase as senior Isabel Sanchez, sophomore Sydney Sundgren and freshman Renae Searls finished first, second and third respectively. Sanchez’s time of 10:36.13 allowed her to move up to No. 5 in school history in the event. In the men’s 3,000 steeplechase, redshirt freshman Dheeraj Gurusamy grabbed second with an over 11-second PR of 8:51.38, No. 12 in school history.
Freshmen Ella Echsner (women’s 800) and Aiden Aldana (men’s 5,00), redshirt freshman Micah Sanchez (men’s 5,00), sophomore Ashlyn Leath (women’s 5,000), and senior Colton Swinth (men’s 5,000) also ran PRs at the meet.
UP NEXT: A handful of Mustangs looking for West Preliminary qualifying marks will head to Azusa Pacific University on Friday, May 9, and Saturday, May 10, to take part in the Franson Last Chance Invite to wrap up regular season action for the team. The multi-event portion of the Big West Championships starts this coming Friday and Saturday in Long Beach, but no Mustangs will be participating in it. The full Big West Championship meet is scheduled for May 16-17 at LBSU’s Jack Rose Track.
Fresno State Invitational Results
WOMEN
100-meter: 7, Cadence Roy-Williams, 11.93. 10, Ava Simos, 12.01. 11, Madison Easter, 12.02. 12, Ciella Seals, 12.03. 13, Desie Armstrong, 12.04. 17, Tayhlore Hoagland, 12.30.
200-meter: 6, Madison Easter, 24.01. 8, Jordan Jackson, 24.29. 9, Ava Simos, 24.35. 11, Cadence Roy-Williams, 24.46. 16, Ciella Seals, 24.67. 20, Tayhlore Hoagland, 24.98. 22, Desie Armstong, 25.08. 33, Eva Brandenburg, 27.24.
400-meter: 3, Jordan Jackson, 54.21.
800-meter: 3, Elianah DeMange, 2:11.35.
100-meter hurdles: 12, Kaira Burrage, 14.60. 23, Eva Brandenburg, 15.38.
400-meter hurdles: 3, Kalia Estes, 1:01.52. 5, Kaira Burrage, 1:03.11. 9, Avery Adelman, 1:03.93.
4x100 relay: 2, Cal Poly, (Desie Armstrong, Madison Easter, Ciella Seals, Cadence Roy-Williams), 45.66.
High jump: 2, Melanie Castelli, 5-8. 5, Maia Garcia, 5-4.25. 9, Lariel Henley, 5-2.25. 15, Chase Kubinski, 5-2.25. 18, Eva Brandenburg, 4-10.25.
Pole vault: 1, Lexi Evans, 13-1. 2, Logan Hays, 12-1.25. 4, Avery Karner, 11-7.25.
Long jump: 4, Desie Armstrong, 18-10.5. 8, Cadence Roy-Williams, 18-9.75. 9, Melody Nwagwu, 18-7.25. 16, Tayhlore Hoagland, 17-8.75. 22, Grace Sloan, 16-6.
Triple jump: 3, Melody Nwagwu, 40-6.75. 11, Grace Sloan, 36-3.
Shot put: 2, Taylor Hofland, 46-0.5. 6, Brooklyn Epperley, 40-9.5. 9, Ariella Per, 38-0.25.
Discus: 5, Brooklyn Epperley, 146-1. 8, Taylor Hofland, 140-10.
Hammer: 6, Anna Grexton, 172-1. 8, Gracelyn Brown, 157-9. 10, Brooklyn Epperley, 145-0.
Javelin: 3, Chase Kubinski, 142-8. 13, Avery Karner, 113-1. 15, Natalie Porter, 109-2. 18, Eva Brandenburg, 88-2.
MEN
100-meter: 23, Jonathan Yu, 11.06.
200-meter: 6, MacGregor TeSelle, 21.32. 10, Ryan Teeple, 21.64.
400-meter hurdles: 1, Vincent Atilano, 52.73.
4x100 relay: 1, Cal Poly (Noah Bustos, MacGregor TeSelle, Vincent Atilano, Ryan Teeple), 40.06.
High jump: 2, Nathan Fifer, 6-4.25. 4, Noah Goodrich, 6-2.25. 4, Isaac Knapp, 6-2.25.
Pole vault: 1, Ben Feyrer, 15-11.25.
Long jump: 5, Noah Bustos, 22-11. 6, Jonathan Yu, 22-1.
Triple jump: 3, Jonathan Yu, 45-9. 4, Noah Goodrich, 45-8.5.
Shot put: 2, Corban Payne, 58-4. 3, Albert Beerbower, 56-8.5
Discus: 1, Rory Devaney, 179-11.
Hammer: 1, Rory Devaney, 228-5. 2, Travis Martin, 222-2.
Javelin: 4, Ben Lammers, 185-11.
Oxy Invitational Results
WOMEN
800-meter: 5, Tatiana Cornejo, 2:07.12. 11, Ella Echsner, 2:14.13.
1,500-meter: 12, Melisse Djomby Enyawe, 4:36.06.
5,000-meter: 12, Carissa Buchholz, 17:13.17. 15, Ashlyn Leath, 17:18.88. 20, Ellie Baxter, 17:33.01.
3000-meter steeplechase: 1, Isabel Sanchez, 10:36.13. 2, Sydney Sundgren, 10:41.74. 3, Renae Searls, 10:48.72.
MEN
800-meter: 2, Chase Walter, 1:47.89. 3, Carson Smith, 1:48.10. 5, Jeffery Overgaard, 1:50.37. 6, Taj Clark, 1:52.30.
1,500-meter: 2, Chris Caudillo, 3:41.39. 3, Spencer Pickren, 3:42.43. 6, Michael Chambers, 3:44.58. 12, Lewis Westwood, 3:46.32. 13, Bryce Kueker, 3:46.89. 19, Ibzan Felix, 3:49.64. 23, Mateo Malko-Allen, 3:51.21. 51, Devin Ibarra, 3:56.85.
5,000-meter: 10, Colton Swinth, 14:13.39. 12, Eddie Sion, 14:18.17. 14, Micah Sanchez, 14:21.33. 17, Aiden Aldana, 14:25.64. 24, Tyler Downs, 14:35.72.
3,000-meter steeplechase: 2, Dheeraj Gurusamy, 8:51.38.
